A single puzzle piece England's birthday special
by kokoyuki27
Summary: England was being dumped in the crowded Ma*Donald after America dragged him there and strange things started happening. First there was the strange napkin with words printed on it, then the envelope addressed to him using his human name... What's next?
1. Chapter 1

"America, please tell me you did not drag me all the way from the meeting hall here, just to get a burger." Staring blankly at the huge letter 'M' sculpture in bright yellow paint and red base, England asked in a rare flat tone.

"Huh? Of course not!" America laughed as he waved his left hand.

"Good, because I happen to-"

"It is not just any burger you know, it is THE burger!" America exclaimed in his loud and energetic voice, covering England's voice easily.

"…" England was speechless.

"They just released the newest flavour today and I just have to get it!" America waved both hands in the air excitedly, looking a lot like a kid who was about to get his new toy.

"…I don't even want to know what the new burger is like." England sighed and decided that he was too tired to quarrel with America. "But must you come here immediately after the meeting?" The idiot literally ran for the door when Japan announced that the meeting was over, pulling him along without explaining anything at all.

"Totally! Do you know how long the queue will be if I am not fast enough?" America gave England the surprised look, "What if I came too late and when it was finally my turn, they ran out? I even skipped my breakfast for this! The hero must have THE burger!" With that, America let out a battle cry and charged into the crowded Ma*Donald in a not-so-heroic way, while the not so enthusiastic England slowly followed behind, muttering something like "Oh, so those 12 cups of milkshake were not his breakfast?"

When England was finally able to squeeze through the entrance, he had completely lost sight of America in the overcrowded and cramped restaurant. The air smelled of the fries that England refused to call by its name, and instead, refer to them as fried fries. Please, they were in no way related to that bearded wanker, so why call it 'French' fries? England bet that even the potatoes used to make the fries came from either Germany or America's own backyard. Then it was the hamburgers. There was absolutely no ham in any of those hamburgers America ate, and according to America, he has tried all flavours of hamburgers available on the market. Why call it 'HAMburger', when there was obviously not going to be any ham no matter how you try to look between the buns to see if there were any tiny bits of ham hidden in them? Let's not start on the diet soda. Let's just not.

While England was still having that little complain about how people name things, he felt something vibrate in the pocket of his pants and realized that it was his phone. Fishing it out of the pocket, England pressed the 'read' button as the phone's screen displayed a new message. It was from America, "_Hey England, I am almost at the counter now! *Excited* Can you help scout for an empty table? I will join you soon! :D_"

Looking up from his screen, England managed to catch America waving at him from somewhere in the middle of the messy crowd, a big cheeky grin was on his face. Putting the phone back into his pocket, England nodded to America, who went back to drooling at the poster of THE burger pasted above the counter. Admitting his luck, England manoeuvred his steps as he skilfully wriggled his way through the lumps of people and finally, to a small empty plastic table with two chairs nailed to the ground. He sat down on one of the chairs, rested his chin on his hand, and waited.

As England watched the people walk past him, chatting and laughing their hearts out, he felt rather out of the picture. The whole scene was like a puzzle, each individual represented by a puzzle piece. The piece that represented him, however, was different from the other pieces. Sure his piece would look different in terms of shape and content, but one huge characteristic made his piece stand out. His puzzle piece was colourless while the others were filled with vibrant, bright colours. Picture a field of red roses that goes on forever, and in this particular field, was a black rose. Now that certainly would be an eyesore. England was not exactly pleased to be the black rose either. But today was not the best day, not when he woke up early in the morning for a meeting that lasted for 5 hours, then got pulled to a typical fast food restaurant to help America secure a seat… This kind of situation would have him pissed and jumping during normal days. But for some unknown reason, he just could not bother to retaliate today.

Speaking of which, where was America?

"E-excuse me sir." England felt a soft tap on the back as man wearing the Ma*Donald uniform came into his view. "I was told to give you this." The man pushed a brown paper bag to England.

"Huh-? Oh. Thank you very much." England took a close look at the paper bag, and after confirming that he had no idea why he should be getting, lifted his head to ask the man about it. But he was surprised to find no one in front of him at all. As if, that man just disappeared…

After blankly staring at the spot where the man was for a few seconds while questions clouded his mind, England decided that America was probably still queuing up, and turned his attention to the paper bag instead. There was nothing special about the bag itself. It was just one of those paper bags Ma*Donald uses for takeaways. But why would he get one? He did not order anything. Could it be America's?

With that in mind, England opened the bag, and the first thing that came into sight was a box containing one hamburger. To be exact, THE hamburger. Puzzled, England picked the box out of the bag, and felt something beneath the box. It was a sticky note. On it, was a line of hand written words. Judging from the handwriting and the splatter of tomato sauce and coke marks at the corners of the note, England was almost immediately sure that America wrote it, "_Sorry dude! I've to attend to sth important. Do ya mind bringing my burger to me? THX! _"

…At least that explained th- THE burger.

"You figured he would at least tell you where he would be." England facepalmed as he put the box on the table, beside the paper bag. How was he supposed to deliver something, when he did not know the destination?

After some brain wrecking while thinking of the places America would be, England gave up and decided to just go home first. That idiot can go on without lunch for one day. As he was putting THE burger into the paper bag, something caught his attention. A few pieces of napkin that came with the box were resting at the very bottom of the bag. There was nothing special about them, but England picked them up anyway and started unfolding them one by one.

"That's weird. I don't remember the napkin having words printed on them…" When he was at his third piece, England noticed a small line of words printed at the right bottom of the napkin. Straining his eyes, he read: "Coffee, or tea?"

"Huh? Did they start advertising on napkins as well?" Scratching his head confusedly, England muttered to himself. "Won't this be more appropriate for shops that actually sells coffee and tea? Like Starbucks or something…" England's voice trailed off as a sense of realization struck him. Stuffing the napkins back into the paper bag, England grabbed the paper bag and managed his way out of the restaurant, heading for that one place where he would always drop by for tea.

* * *

"Welcome sir. What would it be today?" The girl at the counter greeted with a warm smile as England pushed the glass door open and entered the shop, immediately greeted by the air filled with a mixture of tea and coffee.

"The normal please. Oh and… Get me a cup of coffee that other person always orders." England smiled back and answered.

"Alright." The girl nodded and pressed two buttons on her rows of number on the counter desk, followed by some rustling in the kitchen behind the counter. In a few minutes, a ring was heard, and two cups of drinks were passed to the girl from the small window that connected the kitchen and the counter.

"Here you go, two takeaways." The girl placed the two drinks in the special holder and handed them to England.

"Thanks. How did you know I wanted takeaways?" England decided that there were too many strange things happening today and he should just go with the flow. Talking out his wallet, he gave the girl a $10 note.

"Well that paper bag you were carrying gave me some clues." The girl pointed to the bag in England's left hand and replied. "Do keep your money, this one is free."

"Is it alright?" Sure she was being nice, but he would not want to get her in trouble with her boss.

"Oh sure. You are a regular customer." She winked. "Nice weather today, isn't it? You should get going. Roses won't be red and blooming forever."

England nodded, thanked her for the free drinks, and walked out of Starbucks. For some reason, something felt weird. Was it what the girl said? It was quite a sunny day, so that would explain the good weather. But what did she mean by the rose talk? Why did it sound so familiar? It was as if someone had said this before.

… Roses…

…

England headed to the only French restaurant in that area.

"Alright, now what?" England felt the tip of his opened mouth twitch as he stood in front of the French restaurant, which was closed. "This is just ridiculous yet so much like that frog. Why would any shop close on such short notice, and the best reason the shop owner could come up with, was that he ran out of wine?" He scoffed angrily, the only expression he had for all day, besides being completely confused and blank.

While he was still cursing at the notice stuck on the door of the restaurant, a person wearing sunglasses, a black hat which covered half of his face and a long black cloak that covered everything else walked accidentally bumped into England. After a brief sorry, the person scurried off, not noticing that he dropped his envelop.

"Hey! You drop something…" England picked the envelope up and was about to return it to the person, when he found no one there. "…Huh… I guess you don't need it." England did not know which was weirder. The fact that the person was wearing a cloak on such a hot day, or the person owning a ponytail…

"Well, I have to return this to someone." England took a closer look at the address written on the envelope, and was surprised to see '_Arthur Kirkland_' Written on the front. "Huh? It's for me?" That's weird. People would normally address him as 'England'… Wait, since when was the last time he received a letter not from his boss? Since it was his, he figured he had every right of opening it, so he did.

In it were some cards of different colours. Each card had one word written on it, and each word was written in a different handwriting. Well how nice, what's going to be next? A cross word puzzle? Putting the complaining aside, England laid the cards out on the deserted pavement and read the words out one by one: "_Panda, Romance, Awesome, Kolkolkol_ …?" Well that did not make any sense. This can't be a sentence no matter how you look at it. But now England knew who to beat up later for all these nonsense.

"Hmm… What if I put it like this, and change the layout…" England muttered as he shifted the cards around, and after a few minutes, smiled contently. Holding a bag of THE burger in one hand and two cups of drinks in the other, England rushed down the path, to where the next destination was.


	2. Chapter 2

Standing in front of the park's map, England pondered over where to go next. But when he saw that the park's maze was being circled in red on the map, he rolled his eyes and walked to the maze, a little worn out from all the trips. This better be worth it.

"_Do scones taste nice_?" As England met the first split in the path, the question came into sight. He was now in the huge maze and trying to find his way out so he can finally figure out what was going on. Then maybe give out a few of his knuckle sandwiches should the outcome be a total waste of time. He would seriously rather be at home, sitting on his sofa with his book and maybe a cup of earl grey or red tea than to be here, dealing with such a stupid question.

Of course his scones taste nice!

But England decided to follow the path with the answer 'No' stuck to it. Instinct, they just mess with your brain at times.

The path led to some more turning, and finally to another split with a second question stuck on the wall of the maze, "_I look like a horse, but I am not a horse. Only England can see me because he is childish._" England felt his eye twitched as he chose to follow the answer on the right. "Bloody hell… I told him that unicorns are real!" he shouted as he stormed down the path, scaring some pigeons as they flew up into the orange sky. It was already 6 pm.

"_How many cards did you get today?_" Well that was an easy one. There were only four cards in that envelop he got, and if he was not wrong, those were the only cards he got today. But in front of him, were the choices '_3_' and '_5_'. That got England speechless and thinking. Let's see, he woke up and went to the meeting and meet everyone else, but no one gave him any card. Then America dragged him to get THE burger, he did not give him any card either. The mysterious worker did give him the paper bag, but no cards. The girl gave him coffee and tea, no cards. After that, the person who banged into him outside the French restaurant left the envelope with the 4 cards. But that was all! He may be tired, but he was sure his memory did not fail him. So where should the last card be?

… Wait a minute. That mysterious worker gave him a tap on the back… Could it be…

England quickly reached for his hack to see if he could feel anything, and was not sure if he should freak out when he felt a card on the spot where the worker tapped him. The card was fixed on the shirt using double sided sticky tape, and it was a miracle that the card did not drop after all those running… Ah well, at least he solved the mystery.

England followed the path with the option '_5_' and found himself facing a last split after 4 to 5 minutes of walking and turning. But this time, there was no question, not even options.

"Bloody hell. What now? I rely on my luck?" England was close to snapping. As fun as this was, it was twice as frustrating. He preferred reading Sherlock to actually being one and looking out for every little clue here and there. Then again, it is in his gentleman blood that he should not and will not give up or back down when facing obstacles. So he calmed down and thought of the things he obtained and what he did to them. Who knows? Every little detail may be a big clue.

That was when he remembered the 5th card he just got his hands on. Surely the card was given to him for a reason, so he lifted it to eye level, and started reading it. The handwriting was rather tidy and neat, and the card had a faint sweet smell of… What was that called? He remembered getting the same smell when he visited… Who did he visit again?

"Heck, I will remember it later." Ignoring that question, England read the contents on the card, "_What day is it to day? To the left: 23/4. To the right: A special day._"

…The last time he checked, today was 23 of April… So he should be turning to the left? As far as he could remember, there was nothing special today, nor was the date marked on his calendar, where he would always label the important days… Oh well, left it is.

"AHHH! ENGLAND! WRONG WAY-!" America suddenly popped out from the right path and shouted. Behind him, several hands appeared and forcefully dragged America back behind the walls before England could see him.

"Huh?" England quickly spun around, but was surprised to see no one there, "I thought I heard America… Ahh damn! I hope he had lunch after all!" Suddenly remembering that he was supposed to deliver the lunch, England exclaimed.

* * *

"Aiyaa! Keep it down aru! You are spoiling the surprise!"

"But I can't help it! He got the simplest question wrong!"

"Fusososo, guess he can be blur at time too!"

"Oii Spain! Why the fuck must I join this?"

"Ve~ So when are we going to start?"

"Please be patient, I am sure England san will be coming here soon."

"He better! Even the awesome me came!"

"Brother, keep it down!"

"Da, he is coming this way~"

"Hurry up and get back to your stations!"

* * *

Deciding to trust that voice, England turned back and walked down the right path instead, still trying hard to remember what was so special about today. Before he knew it, he was already at the end of the maze; a rather big and tall gazebo made of metal and painted white...Well, that was how he remembered it to be.

But what he saw, was far from his memory remembered it. The gazebo was still there alright, but it was decorated in red, blue and white ribbons and balloons. In the middle of the gazebo's roof was a banner, but before England had the chance of reading what it was, a loud sound was heard as some confetti flew in and disrupted his sight.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ENGLAND!" The countries shouted as they came out of hiding, immediately filling up the empty space.

"…" England was stunned and did not know how to react at all.

"… America, big brother don't want to doubt you, but are you sure you got the dates right?" France asked.

"Of course I did! I have been planning this since last month!" America insisted.

"Da, but he doesn't look elated at all." Russia smiled and pointed at England.

"Aiyaaa! America! You can plan a world meeting, and still get England's birthdate mixed up?" China facepalmed.

"I am telling you! I got the date right! Tell them Canada! We planned this together!" America pulled Canada out of the crowd.

"Huh? Who?"

"CANADA! He is right here!" America was eager to prove that he was right, and to do that, he needed backup.

"…Pfft- hahaha!" England's shocked expression slowly turned into chuckling, then laughing. At the same time, tears trickled down his cheeks. The others immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at England.

"E-England, are you alright? We are sorry we got your birthdate wrong, stop crying alright?" France tried comforting him.

"I am telling you! The hero is never wrong!" America insisted as England continued laughing.

"Everyone, please stop quarrelling. England san, are you alright?" Japan asked worriedly.

"Huh? I am alright." England finally managed to cease his laughing and rubbed the tears off his cheek, "It's just that…" He looked up at the group with a warm and grateful smile, "I thought all of you forgot." They had every reason to. The last time he checked, he was not exactly the most well-liked country around.

"I can't cook like France, have bad tempers, can never be calm like Japan or stern like Germany. Neither can I lead like America or beat China in a video game. I thought you won't bother remembering my birthday." Tears were rolling down his eyes again. That's why he forgot his own birthday. There was no need to remember a birthday, when there was no need to celebrate it.

The group was quiet. They did not know England would think of something like that, and they certainly did not know how to act in this kind of situation.

"We don't have to remember it." America suddenly broke the silence, and got all the other countries to stare at him angrily. "Because we never did forget about it." America finished his sentence, and went forward to give England a hug. "Yeah you cook badly, but we can always eat burgers!"

"No one can take your place in my heart England. Quarrelling with others would never be as fun as quarrelling with you." France gave England a charming smile and hugged him too.

"You may not notice me at times, but you were a great guardian. Thank you very much!" Canada went over and hugged England as well.

"Fusososo, I hate to admit it. But I can never beat you at sea." Spain laughed and tugged at Romano's sleeve, motioning for him to say something too.

"… Damn it. Thank you for not killing Spain bastard when you had the chance to…" Romano muttered and looked away.

"Aiyaa… Who will talk about tea with me if you are not here aru?" China smiled, "But I will pass the hug aru, my back won't be able to take it."

"That's right England san. You don't have to be perfect for us to remember you." Japan gave England a little nod, "We still have that culture exchange to do, no?"

"Ve~ Germany, should we say something as well?" Italy wanted to say something, but had no idea what to say.

"… Let's just keep quiet." Germany decided that Italy would probably say something wrong.

"Everyone…" England had turned from tearing to crying. "I-I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything!" America grinned, "Just being your own grumpy self is better than anything you can say now!"

England did not say anything, but simply nodded as a broad smile was painted on his face. How could be forget? They would always be there for him. There was no need to be perfect to have friends. If all puzzle pieces were the same shape, they won't be able to fit and become a big picture.

"Ahhh! England! My burger is all cold!" America exclaimed as he finally spotted the paper bag. "You sure took your time!"

"Who was the idiot who went about the bushes and came up with all these unnecessary stuff?" England rebutted, "Mind you, I could have been here much faster if you told me in the first place!"

"Everyone! I declare the start of the party! Let's dig in!" America ignored England's complains and turned to the others, who all agreed.

"AMERICA! LISTEN WHEN SOMEONE IS TALKING TO YOU!" England snapped and chased after America.

"Ahh~ here comes our usual jumpy and uptight Iggy~" France grinned as he watched the two run around.

"Isn't this great?" Canada giggled, "Only the England now can make brother laugh so brightly."

France looked at Canada meaningfully, then at the two again. Messing up Canada's hair, France laughed, "You know, America should be glad to have such a caring brother."

"You think so?"

"Oui. Come on, let's go get some food. Acting as the worker must be hard." France said as the two joined the others at the buffet table.

"Hey guys! Since England totally screwed the first one up, let's try the shouting again!" America announced as the others all looked up at once. "Alright, here we go!"

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ENGLAND!" Once again, everyone shouted with a smile.

* * *

Suppose this whole scenario was a puzzle, and each person was represented by a puzzle piece. Then everyone would have a different colour, a different shape and different content. But only because of their difference, were they able to come together to form such a masterpiece. Only when they bond together, can they shine. So say that one piece still has no colour, and stands out like a sore thumb. But without that piece, the puzzle would never be complete.

Every piece, is important.

* * *

**OMG! I finally finished it! _**

**I thought this was never coming out of me...**

**Anyway~ Please do review~ I just did a 4000+ one shot in 3 hours! **

**I deserve some praises..? *thick skin ^^"'***

**But i hope you feel all warm and fuzzy after you have read this. Remember, you can be as mean as England, and still damn awesome! Finally~**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY ENGLAND! **

**YOU ARE THE BEST! 3 ** (epic England fangirl here ^^"')


End file.
